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Australovenator
| image = AustralovenatorInfobox.jpg|thumb | image_caption = A restoration of Australovenator wintonensis | image_width = 240px | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Sauropsida | clade1 = Dinosauria | superordo = Theropoda | genus = Australovenator | genus_authority = Hocknull et al., 2009 | species = A. wintonensis | binomial = Australovenator wintonensis | binomial_authority = Hocknull et al., 2009}}Australovenator (meaning “southern hunter”) is a genus of allosauroid theropod dinosaur from late Albian (Early Cretaceous)-a ge rocks of Australia, belonging to the Megaraptora. It is known from partial cranial and postcranial remains. Description and history Australovenator is based on AODL 604 (affectionately named “Banjo”) a partial skeleton including a left dentary, teeth, partial forelimbs and hindlimbs, a partial right ilium, ribs, and gastralia. Australovenator was described in 2009 by Scott Hocknull and colleagues. The type species is A. wintonensis, in reference to nearby Winton. A phylogenetic analysis found Australovenator to be an allosauroid carnosaurian, with similarities to Fukuiraptor and carcharodontosaurids. In the initial analysis, it was shown to be the sister taxon of the Carcharodontosauridae. More detailed studies found that it formed a clade with several other carcharodontosaurid-like allosaurs, the Neovenatoridae. The ankles of Australovenator and Fukuiraptor are similar to the Australian talus bone known as NMVP 150070 that had previously been identified as belonging to Allosaurus sp., and it is likely that this bone represents Australovenator or a close relative of it. Paleobiology AODL 604 was found about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northwest of Winton, near Elderslie Station. It was recovered from the lower part of the Winton Formation, dated to the latest Albian. AODL 604 was found in a clay layer between sandstone layers, interpreted as an oxbow lake, or billabong, deposit. Also found at the site were the type specimen of the sauropod Diamantinasaurus, bivalves, fish, turtles, crocodilians, and plant fossils. The Winton Formation had a faunal assemblage including bivalves, gastropods, insects, the lungfish Metaceratodus, turtles, the crocodilian Isisfordia, pterosaurs, and several types of dinosaurs, such as the sauropods Diamantinasaurus and Wintonotitan, and unnamed ankylosaurians and hypsilophodonts. Plants known from the formation include ferns, ginkgoes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Australovenator was a medium-sized allosauroid. According to Hocknull, it was 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall at the hip and 6 metres (20 ft) long. Only a single individual has been uncovered so scientists can't be certain if the skeleton is an adult or juvenile. Because it was a lightweight predator, he coined it as the “cheetah of its time”. Like other carnosaurians, Australovenator would have been a bipedal carnivore. In the Media Australovenator made an appearance in the famous documentary Walking with Dinosaurs (however, it was called "Dwarf Allosaur" because scientists hadn't come up with a name for it yet), where it attacked a small herd of Leaellynasaura and killed its female matriarch. It also harrassed a herd of the large hadrosaurid Muttaburrasaurus and scavenged a carcass from one of them. The Australovenator nicknamed 'Banjo' appears in both fossil and live form in the documentary Australia: The First 4.5 Billion Years. lbt_australovenator_by_dinosaur_dragon_fan_dbw010g.png Category:Carnivores Category:Cretaceous Dinosaurs Category:Saurischia Category:Large Carnivores Category:Early Cretaceous dinosaurs Category:Dinosaurs of Australia Category:Dinosaurs of Antarctica Category:Polar Creatures Category:Apex predators Category:Cretaceous dinosaurs Category:Archosaurs Category:Cretaceous animals Category:Cretaceous Period Category:Prehistoric Life Category:Carnosaurs Category:Fossil taxa described in 2009 Category:Diapsids Category:Extinct animals of Australia Category:Prehistoric animals of australia Category:Megaraptorans Category:Polar dinosaurs Category:Prehistoric Kingdom Category:Famous animals Category:Famous Dinosaurs Category:Predators Category:Walking with dinosaurs animals